


this place is the same as it ever was

by thegirlwiththeunicornheart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28715256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwiththeunicornheart/pseuds/thegirlwiththeunicornheart
Summary: If Harry had stepped onto that train in the Deathly Hallows, this might have been what he found. “Selling dreams, from you I’d buy anything… I guess I’ll never know…. It’s never too late to come back…. “
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Kudos: 2





	this place is the same as it ever was

The train rumbled to a stop, and the doors slid open. In his seat, Harry sat and watched. Nothing happened. Presumably, the thing to do was the get up out of his seat and exit the train…. Harry did so. He stepped out onto a country platform. A stone building stood in front of him, sporting signs that indicated toilets, a waiting room, a ticket office…. And a location sign. ‘Godrics Hollow’ the sign said.  
Harry stepped forward. This was it. This was his opportunity to come home, to ‘live’ his life the way it had been intended to be lived. To find his family and make the most of them.

Walking down cobblestone streets, Harry passed buildings he recognised from his Christmas Eve visit to Godrics Hollow. The church where the carols had been sung. The pub, where more carols had echoed out into the night air. The town square where a monument had stood, a monument remembering his parents and that fateful night of October, of the day Harry had lost everything. Surprisingly, when Harry came upon the square, no such monument stood there. There was a small fountain, with Lions spouting water out of their mouths…. But no statues of Harry or his parent's. For the first time since he exited the train, Harry realised that things were the same…. But different. 

He continued on. Leaving the town square behind, Harry passed the church and the graveyard. He didn’t venture in this time. He had no desire to visit his parents graves again so soon. He continued on up the street, passing house after house. Strangely, they all seemed to be more alive than they had been on his last visit. Clothing on washing lines, people out gardening, a mailman riding his bike up the street dropping letters into boxes… parents waving children off to play, and the scents of cooking and baking drifting from kitchen windows.  
Harry passed Bathilda’s house and shivered. That night he and Hermione had visited her was not one of his fondest memories. He kept walking, coming closer and closer to the only home he had ever known, apart from Hogwarts. 

The house stood whole and strong. Harry stepped back from the gate, wondering how this could be. No holes in the roof, no gaping wounds in the side of the house. No memorial signs stood out front, no well wishes from friends, no ‘We’re with you Harry’ notes. He stepped forward again, bravely reaching out a hand to grasp the latch on the gate.  
The moment he did so, the moment he pulled the gate open, a scream of delight sprang from inside the house.

Lily came running out the door, followed by James. Arms searching, reaching and finally, hugging him. He was home.

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics and Title from 'Dorothea' by Taylor Swift


End file.
